While serving the Mercenary trade, the revised,
Republic-lead MRBC had also served to weaken the power and influence that the
mercenaries held. This, combined with the shrinking size of commands (the
multi-regiment commands of the pre-Jihad era being all but extinct) and more
commands becoming inactive then new ones registering, had lead to a winnowing
of the mercenary trade itself. By 3130, the mercenary trade was at its weakest
ebb since the Third Succession war, an objective that the Republic of the Sphere
had deliberately worked towards.
The Periphery powers had gotten around their lack of
representation by using Herotitus as their main hiring hall. While not
controlled by the MRBC, the generally poor quality of the units based there, as
well as the limited technology and economies of the Periphery, served as a
brake on those commands. The result was again a weakening of their influence,
as well as limiting their capabilities. The sole exception to this was the
Magestry of Canopus, who would often use the Capellan Confederation as a
go-between for hiring units.
Grey Monday and its aftermath, however, destroyed this new
stability a number of ways. Almost overnight, innumerable new commands sprang
up out of nowhere, registering with the MRBC. While many of these units were
dubious at best, often made up of converted InsustrialMechs or infantry, their
numbers swelled the depleted ranks of MRBC. Many existing commands also
expanded as a response to the growing chaos and uncertainty within the
Republic. The rate at which this happened was dramatic; in 3132, many Mercenary
Commands boasted a single lance of BattleMechs. A mere five years later, even
bottom-tier commands were boasting multiple BattleMech companies.
The second problem was a severe undercutting of the MRBC’s
ability to regulate the industry, one that was attributable to a number of
causes. The first and most obvious was an inability to communicate and
coordinate, as well as gather information. Without the HPG network, the MRBC
was as blind as everyone else to goings on, and entirely dependent on secondary
communication sources such as jumpship couriers. It quickly became near
impossible for the MRBC to know what was going on, and investigating reported
breaches and disputes became a lengthy process, requiring months to simply
gather evidence. The result was that merely bringing a dispute to the MRBC
would be en expensive and time-consuming affair.
This problem was exacerbated by the MRBC’s effective
financial collapse in 3133, the result of the Republic Senate blocking
emergency funding to the organization. Without funds, the MRBC was unable to
effectively operate, and it’s regulatory abilities were severely compromised. The
MRBC was unable to investigate potential employers or newly formed units, and
registration of new commands often consisted of simply rubber-stamping a unit
and moving on. Likewise, unit rosters and records would often be months out of
date, and could even be deliberately falsified.
The net result was almost an air of suspicion between
employer and employee. Mercenary commands had no way of knowing if their
employer was legitimate, if their
mission brief or contract was legitimate, if they were even capable of playing
and so on. Likewise, an employer had to assume that the unit had the strength
and capability that they claimed, that they were capable of fulfilling the
mission goals or the like. An employer that abandoned a unit in the field, or
unit that simply cut and run or switched sides could do such with a lot less
risk then they would have faced before the blackout.
With the MRBC crippled, word of mouth became the new status
quo of the mercenary world. The reputation of a unit or an employer became dependant
on trust rather then known facts and the assumption that anything said and
reported about them was the truth. MRBC ratings became almost worthless and
impossible to maintain, with the only significant note being if a unit was
banned or wanted.
The MRBC board was also effectively crippled by events. The
Republic withdrew its representative prior to the formation of Fortress
Republic, leaving the board without its chair. Attempts to further reform the
board were hampered when ComStar also pulled out due to the organizations’ own
near total collapse, as well as their diminished role and crippled
infrastructure. Finally, the Capellan Confederation pulled out of the MRBC
after the last of their extant mercenary contracts expired. Their place on the
diminished board was taken by the reformed Free Worlds League, but by this point
the board’s actual power was almost non-existent.
The recent formation of the Galatean Defense League may
prove to be the final death knell for the MRBC. The GDL was built out of un-contracted
units as well as individuals that were present on Galatea, but was done without
any authorization or alliance with the MRBC. Any mercenaries that wish to join
the GDL are so far free to do such, but are subject to scrutiny by the GDL’s
leadership before they are approved. However, again this is done outside of the
MRBC, with that organization having no influence over the process. Should the
GDL begin enforcing the mercenary community in addition to protecting the League’s
worlds, then the diminished MRBC may well find itself without a reason to exist
No comments:
Post a Comment